Congressman Adam Putnam today expressed sympathy to the people of Haiti who were victims of a massive earthquake centered near Port au Prince Tuesday evening.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all who have died or are suffering from this horrible catastrophe,” said Putnam.  “The survivors and brave aid workers who are struggling in the aftermath need the world’s help, and America is already rushing to provide assistance, as it has so many times in times of tragedy.”

Putnam noted that the U.S. State Department has created a task force to monitor the emergency. People in the United States or Canada with information or inquiries about U.S. citizens in Haiti may reach the Haiti Task Force by telephone at 888-407-4747.  Because of heavy call volume, some callers may reach a recorded message.

The State Department has also announced that anyone wishing to donate or provide assistance contact the Center for International Disaster Information.  The Center, operated under a grant from the United States Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and initial support from IBM, has become a valuable resource to the public, as well as US government agencies, foreign embassies and international corporations. CIDI has established a dedicated Web page to coordinate Haiti support at:  http://www.cidi.org/incident/haiti-10a/

In addition, people who would like to make a donation to the Red Cross to assist with disaster relief can simply text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

The Web sites of the Red Cross (www.redcross.org)  and Mercy Corps (www.mercycorps.org) are also set up to allow individuals to contribute to the disaster relief efforts.

Since 2001, Putnam has represented Florida’s 12^th Congressional District, which includes most of Polk County and portions of Hillsborough and Osceola counties.